The Shadow Titan
by Mary Allen
Summary: Levi is seriously injured on an expedition beyond the walls and Erwin has no other option than to inject him with the titan serum, if he doesn t want to lose his best soldier. Gaining titan shifter powers, the Survey Corps now has another powerful weapon at its disposal, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan, all respective rights go to Hajime Isayama.**

 **I wanted to read a story with Titan!Levi for a while but could find none, so I decided to write one myself. Knowing myself, I don´t know if I will actually finish this or update regularly because I have a real lot of work at school, but I will try my best, reviews encourage me to continue.**

 **My writing style is quite drawn out so don´t be surprised if shit doesn´t hit the fan right off the bat in the first chapter.**

 **Some of the seemingly random pieces of information in this fic actually come from official trivia, so you may or may not spot them based on your trivia knowledge. I will also be making shit up. There probably will be manga spoilers.**

 **Now that I got the important stuff out of the way, let´s move on onto the more important stuff, the story!**

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"I want Ackerman."

Erwin nodded to Levi´s request. They were trying to put together his new squad. The former one being wiped was a great loss to the Survey Corps, one that would be very hard to fill in again.

"If there´s someone who would save Eren´s ass when I´m not around, then it´s her. And she´s the top of her class and an invaluable asset in her own right. And I wouldn´t want to see what she´d do if she wouldn´t be put together with Eren."

Erwin smiled. When it came to raw ability, given enough time, Mikasa Ackerman could probably be on par with Levi. He noted Mikasa´s name on a piece of paper.

"Who else?"

Levi considered his options. He liked working with Hange, but her focus was on the titan research, which was extremely important to the future of the Survey Corps so she was better left undisturbed. He looked through the list of new recruits. There were some veterans in the Survey Corps, but the best of the best died in the last expedition and it was better to start with some fresh meat that could be trained and molded.

"Add the Kirstein guy. He´s an independent thinker and despite acting like he only protects his own ass, he actually cares about others too. And he´s good with the gear. And I need someone to keep Eren on his toes." Levi chuckled.

Erwin nodded again and wroted Jean´s name under Mikasa´s. He was a good choice.

"Also thinking about Braun. Don´t really know him that much, but going by what Shardis said, he´s strong, reliable and works well in a team. He´s not much of a talker and follows orders but he can think for himself." Levi stopped for a moment, scanning through the reports. "Not Hoover though, that dimwit wouldn´t make an independent decision if his life depended on it."

He looked through the rest of the assessments. There wasn´t really anyone else who met his requirements of both being a capable fighter and had a high degree of independence, because he wasn´t planning on babysitting a bunch of new recruits.

"If I can deliver my own opinion on the matter," Erwin interrupted, "I´d also like to suggest Armin Arlert."

Erwin paused for a while, searching for reaction in Levi´s face. "He may not be physically strong, but his observation and deductive skills are unmatched. He has great potential. And, given the right amount of field training, he could be the Survey Corps Commander in the future."

Seeing how Levi turned to him with his eyebrows raised, he continued. "No, really, I see a bit of myself in him from when I was his age. And he has a very close relationship with Eren and Ackerman."

Levi sighed. "Fine, but if he hinders the group, you´re taking him back."

Erwin suppressed a smile and wrote _Armin Arlert_ under the short list of names. Together with Eren, there were now six of them.

"If you´re done with me then I´ll be heading home."

"Sure. Make sure to see your new squad tomorrow before we depart tomorrow evening."

"Yeah. Bye."

Receiving only nod as an answer as Erwin was already going through his formation plans, lost in a world of strategy and tactics. Levi closed the door and headed out. He wanted to take a shower before he would spend god knows how much time on a mission without any chance for a good wash.

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Erwin eyed the formation plans, mulling over them for the last time today. He was certain he distributed everyone to the positions they were most suited for, now all he had to do was to make sure he was well rested for when they would depart for the 58th Expedition Beyond the Walls tomorrow evening.

It had been a new idea to travel during night when the titans didn´t have the sunlight to sustain their movement. It would make movement harder for them too, but he figured that if they moved at trot speed, they could cover a lot of distance before the first rays of sun begun waking the titans up, arriving near a previously established base in one of the forests scattered between walls Maria and Rose.

His eyes drifted to the briefcase lying next to the table. Inside the briefcase, there was a syringe with the titan serum that could save one life, but also give great responsibility to the individual it would be used at. He decided that he would only use it after a careful consideration.

Content with his plans so far, he sit back into his chair, the paperwork ominously waiting for him in the drawer of his table. He patiently begun to fill out information about supplies and soldiers. This would be a long night...

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Levi was just getting out of shower. In the more recent years, he came to view it more as a necessity rather than enjoyment, so he rarely showered more than three minutes, unless there was simply too much filth after a long and strenuous mission.

Tonight, he didn´t even get to shower in warm water, the cold current surprising him, but he only hissed a silent curse in annoyance and stepped into the freezing water. He hoped to work out the kinks in his muscles after today´s workout, but he was denied even this little pleasure. Dismissing the whole issue, he quickly scrubbed himself clean with a bar of soup, washed the soapsuds away and stepped out, the cool air raising goosebumps on his damp skin, but he payed no attention to that as he dried out his short hair with a clean towel.

His eyes caught their reflection in the bathroom mirror and for a while he stared at them while squeezing excess water out of his hair, the familiar dull blue orbs and gray bags under his eyes staring back with neutral expression. The sight was so familiar after all the years that he payed no heed, brushed his teeth with the towel wrapped around his waist, the half-lidded eyes returning the stare the whole time.

Finishing the evening routine, he went back into his chambers and dressed into a fresh uniform he prepared on his bed beforehand.

Freshly dressed and clean, he stopped for a moment, pondering his options. Despite the late hour, he didn´t feel like going to sleep, but then again, he rarely did. He eyed the room for a while and then his steps turned towards the door, leaving his apartment and locking the door. He walked down few flights of stairs and finally out of the whole building, the fresh night air greeting him.

He walked without direction through Stohess, the eastern district around Wall Sina. It was where the higher ups gave him his apartment and he didn´t complain, it was far better than his small flat in the Underground City that he shared with other people.

During his walk, he saw many destroyed houses, buzzing with activity of workers during the day but deserted now, as all the workers went home already. This was the result of the final smackdown that Eren in his titan form had with the Female Titan. The casualties were very high, the damage was extensive and the repair works were only beginning.

He was lost in thought, mindlessly walking around just for the possibility for mindlessness it allowed him. He could relax without fearing for his life and life of those around him. He liked moments like these, when he didn´t have to care.

In addition to his own footsteps and their echo resounding from the walls around, he could hear another set. He couldn´t tell from which direction they were coming, and he didn´t pay it much thought, and he wasn´t taken aback when he saw another figure emerged at the other end of the street.

Levi was minding his own business, after all, there wasn´t any law prohibiting citizens from leaving their homes after sunset, it was just unusual. Maybe someone couldn´t sleep, like him.

The two were almost passing each other when light illuminated the stranger´s face.

No-one had eyebrows like that.

Smirking, Levi nodded in acknowledgment of Erwin´s presence, wishing him good night and continued in his original track. They were off duty now and no formalities were required, not like Levi usually upheld any formalities. Erwin was probably on his way home after he finished what he was working on when Levi was leaving. He always put so much effort into his work, more than any of the men he knew.

Finishing his nightly round, he found himself in front of his apartment doors again, his mind pleasantly devoid of nagging thoughts. He entered his flat, hanged his keys at the hook and put the kettle on.

He usually just fell asleep at the table doing work or reading some random stuff. Not that he was a workaholic or loved reading that much, but it was boring enough to coax him into sleeping. He didn´t sleep much anyway, only two to three hours a day and there wasn´t much to do if everywhere was dark and no-one was awake. He didn´t view sleep as something important.

He was just standing in his kitchen, thinking of nothing particular, until the whistling of the kettle hadn´t alerted him that the water was boiling. He pulled out his favorite collection of black tea leaves. High positions in military had their perks, and being among the first to get to scarce merchandise was one of them.

He poured the boiling water in his cup and inhaled the scent of the tea, watching strands of colour rise from the leaves, mixing with the water.

Putting the kettle down, he took his cup and begun slowly sipping his tea, careful not to burn his tongue. He wasn´t in a hurry. There wasn´t anything he needed to do so late in the night.

When he was done with the tea, he went back into his bedroom. He considered sleeping at the table again, but for tonight, he chose the bed. He won´t be getting such luxury in the upcoming nights.

He changed into his nightclothes and lay down, the pleasant exhaustion after his walk and the warm weight of the tea in his stomach slowly lulling him into sleep.

He fell asleep with Isabel´s and Farlan´s faces before his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Levi gently caressed the head of his brown mare and fed her a cube of sugar. She silently snorted and nuzzled his pocked with her nose for more. He gave her the rest of the three sugar cubes and the piece of carrot and then went for the saddle, as she happily munched on her treats.

The strapped the saddle and the bridle on and slowly led the horse outside to where he was supposed to meet up with his new squad. He would just turn around the corner and he would be at the designed meeting spot.

He saw his new squad, they were standing together, probably waiting for him. Jean and Eren were talking animatedly, with Armin and Mikasa flanking Eren and Reiner standing nearby, leaning on a fence. Their horses were tied to a pole, calmly waiting.

Armin noticed him approaching first and apparently warned others in a hushed voice, because Levi couldn´t make out the words, but Eren and Jean stopped whatever they were arguing about and now, he had 5 pairs of eyes on him.

He already met with most of them before, with Mikasa during recapturing Eren from the Female Titan and with Jean and Armin when they made the plan to substitute Eren with Jean for the trial. He never met Reiner in person, only seen him among the crowds. He was sort of hard to miss. If he was surprised with Levi´s lack of height from seeing him up close for the first time, it didn´t show on his face.

"Listen up brats," Levi said as he approached, "you were chosen for the Special Ops squad of the Survey Corps. I am not here to babysit you, so I hope you take care of yourself and not die one me, because I won´t always be there to save your ass. You´re soldiers, so act that way."

He looked at Armin while he said that. Armin gulped.

"Our prime objective is to protect Eren. But he´s also an important part in our plans, and it would do us no good if we just kept him away from the battlefield, therefore, we need to protect him from attacking titans until he´s done with whatever he´d be doing."

"We will be using the long-distance enemy scouting formation that Erwin devised. Our position will be on Line 5 – Center on Standby, same as last time. It is the safest position in the formation, but don´t let that lull you into a false sense of security. As other squads, we will still have to relay smoke signals, but as the Special Op squad, there is a possibility of being discharged to a situation that average soldiers cannot handle. Questions?"

"No, sir," they replied in unison.

"Fine. Go fill your gas tanks and anything else you need before the expedition, say goodbye to your parents, whatever you brats do. We depart behind the Walls in an hour. And cut out the sir."

Levi didn´t even wait for the ´Yes, s-´ they still said from habit, some of them correcting themselves with ´Yes, heichou´, he vaulted on his horse with practices ease and set out to finish his own preparations.

The sun was already low and Levi gave it half an hour top before it would set over the horizon, but it was hard to tell with the Walls obscuring any horizon he could see. They had to wait before darkness fell, because some titans were still able to move some time after sunset.

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Everyone was set and ready to go. They were stocked on gas and blades, the supply wagons were filled and the horses were prepared and fed, calmly waiting for a command.

The civilians came to see them off as always, but their hostile stares and harsh not-silent-enough whispers were even worse than usually. After all, the losses after the last expedition beyond the walls were enormous without accomplishing anything and everyone still had the battle that destroyed their homes and killed their families between Eren and the Female titan in fresh memory.

 _´Look at them, acting all high and mighty again, going out to at the expense of our taxes to achieve nothing, while we struggle here with the damage they caused.´_

 _´Fuckin´ bastards, are lives not sacred to them? My daughter died in the last expedition and they didn´t even have the decency to bring back at least a part of her.´_

 _´Look at him, he´s so handsome.´_

Levi turned to see two pubescent girls eying him. The girls noticed him looking at them at turned away blushing, giggling into their hands.

He snickered in disgust and decided to completely ignore them. Damn airheads.

Armin did his best to appear calm and collected, but inside he felt very tense. He noticed a small boy, barely eight years old, watching from a window in the street surrounding them. Seeing a soldier notice him, the small boy waved.

Armin raised his hand and shyly waved back, smiling slightly at the boy. A mother saw her son and shooed him away from the window and closed the curtains, but not before shooting Armin a hate-filled glare. Armin quickly retracted his hand and looked around him. He hoped they would set out soon. The sun has already set, but the sky still wasn´t entirely dark. He shifted in the saddle and glanced around.

Eren had his eyes pointed forward, but from the set jaw and his fingers clutching the reins so tightly he could see the whites of his knuckles, Armin could tell that Eren wasn´t handling himself much better than he himself did.

Jean had his gaze fixed somewhere on his horse´s mane. He tried his hardest to push away the insults and accusations flying in the air, but he couldn´t deny the truth in people´s words.

Mikasa didn´t look affected at all, at least not personally, though she was keeping close to Eren as she sensed his unease, trying to comfort him with her silent presence.

Reiner´s eyes were fixed on the horizon, tracing the last rays of the disappearing light. He looked lost in thought, as if he was rehearsing the procedures for the expedition.

"This is it, brats," Levi turned back to them from his horse. "We´re going to depart soon."

Just as he finished saying it, Erwin´s voice boomed from the front, from where he would command all the forces.

"Open the gate!"

Waves of murmurs rose and the horses clapped their hooves on the pavement in anticipation. The gate slowly rose, the thick spikes emerging from the ground with dirt falling from them, revealing a dark, vast plane, the grass now appearing as an ocean of rolling gray. No titans in sight.

"FORWARD!"

At the sound of the single word shouted into darkness, over a hundred of horses, both with soldiers and spare ones begun to gallop at full speed out of the gate, the thunder of hooves reverberating the entire street. The soldiers were shouting to give themselves a moral boost before they plunged into the night, their cloaks flying behind them, the lit lanterns dangling, fire in their eyes and their hearts.

It was a sight to behold. The citizens, even the ones previously badmouthing the Survey Corps stood in awe with chills running down their backs.

The running horses begun to spread after they left the gate, led by their riders to assume the formation.

"WE NOW BEGIN THE 58TH EXPEDITION!" Erwin was barely heard over the sounds of hundreds of horseshoes drumming into the ground and the over their own heartbeat pounding in their ears from the adrenaline. "ADVANCE!"

Goosebumps rose on their skin not only from the chilly night air blowing over their skin, but also from the fear of unknown as they were dashing into the darkness with uncertain future full of blood, death and suffering laying ahead.

And so began the 58th Expedition Beyond the Walls.

 **A/N: Sorry to those, who were expecting some action, but we´re slowly getting there. I like a story to be fully developed, not just jumping straight into action and then working your way towards the conclusion.**

 **Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter.**

 **Action is coming. Wait for it. I love battles.**


	3. Chapter 3

The rumbling of hoofs was dulled by grass and dirt as the new reincarnation of the Special Operations Squad dashed forth through the darkness. They have long got down from the uncomfortable kneeling position used for high speeds and were now sitting on the horseback, though their thighs still ached from clutching the saddle and the constant rocking motion.

They had to slow down from the initial pace quite soon after their departure because the terrain was no longer a barren grassy plane and instead gave place to various terrain deformities such as small rocks, streams and groups of trees.

Just enough was visible in the light of the stars and the moon crescent, but nobody wanted to risk breaking his horse´s leg by accidentally stepping into an unseen hole in the ground.

The dim moonlight was sometimes covered by an occasional cloud and then they had to rely on the even dimmer light from their lanterns.

Running through the darkness was a strange and unfamiliar feeling. It was calmer because the risk of a titan attack was significantly lower and yet it was more frightening because they had practically no chance of seeing a titan until they ran directly into him.

A flash of light on the right of Levi´s peripheral vision caught his attention. A bright red flare shot up into the sky, slowly dispersing. It meant that one of the vanguard groups have encountered a group of titans ahead that haven´t fully fell asleep yet and could therefore pose a danger to the expedition.

It was another of Erwin´s ideas to use flares instead of smoke signals, because they wouldn´t be visible during the night.

More red flares rose in the air soon after from the relay positions, alerting the entire legion of the threat.

"Eren, you fire it," Levi ordered.

"Yes, heichou." With fingers chilled from the cold, Eren fumbled for a red flare, shooting it up and relaying it to the left side. Soon, from up ahead, where Erwin´s place was on the commanding position, shot up a green flare pointing to the left, soon followed by all other flares.

Levi, who rode in charge of the group, directed his horse in the direction the green flare signaled. They rode in silence for a few minutes, until they saw a white flare appear, again on the right side of the formation.

"Shit, that´s an Abnormal," Levi hissed, eying the flare in disgruntlement. Shit hit the fan. Eren fired the flare again, not needed to be reminded.

Levi continued. "It´s probably the type that doesn´t need much of Sun´s energy to function. And is able to sustain itself only from the sun rays reflected from the Moon. Troublesome fucker. There´s no going around them, they need to be taken down."

There was a distant sound of giant feet hitting the ground and the tremors traveled through the soil.

Levi could almost feel the gears grinding in Eren´s head, trying to weigh his possibilities. Soon came what Levi dreaded. "Heichou, can´t we go help them?" 

Levi mentally sighed and prepared to answer, but Jean beat him to it. "No. They knew the risks when they joined the Survey Corps. We were tasked with protecting you, because you are an important asset. If you die, you would indirectly kill far more people than you tried to save."

"But can we just leave them to possibly die?" Eren asked, his voice full of anger.

"No, he´s right," Levi said from the front. "I´m sure you remember what I told you last time. After all, it´s the reason why this squad has all the new members. I cannot predict the outcome. Do what you won´t regret. But are you prepared to shoulder the responsibility of possibly dooming all of humanity for the sake of a few individuals?"

But Eren had already decided. He slowly brought his palm to his mouth.

Just then, a blue flare rose approximately from the place where the vanguard encountered the Abnormal titan. It meant that the threat had been dealt with. Eren slowly lowered his hand and clutched his reins again. Levi breathed a sight of relief. He wouldn´t have to incapacitate Eren´s titan form if he went on a rampage on the nearby sleeping titans.

"You were really ready to do it?" asked Reiner, guiding his horse closer to Eren´s. "To go all out and possibly compromise the mission?"

"I would. I didn´t do it during the last expedition. People died. People died, and I could´ve saved them if I trusted in my own ability. But I placed my trust in them and then they died. So I swore to myself that I won´t let more people die if I can avoid it."

"Don´t forget the part where you got yourself be captured and Mikasa and I had to drag your filthy, spit-covered ass from the Female Titan´s mouth exactly because you let yourself be consumed in anger and desire for revenge," Levi remarked with his back facing his squad.

Levi felt delighted when Eren shut up after that. After all, one couldn´t place himself before the good of most. And placing your values before other´s included saving others for your good feeling.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence barring an occasional order to someone to shoot a flare. As the night progressed, there was less need to avoid titans because even the more active ones went to sleep few hours after the sun has set.

They arrived to the edges of the designated forest just as first sun rays showed over the horizon. Inside the forest was an old training camp, used for training new Survey Corps recruits back when they still had Wall Maria. Now it would serve for an impromptu base of operations.

The trees were high and strong and provided a natural barrier. During previous encounters, the Survey Corps observed that the sense the titans use the moat is their sight, meaning they wouldn´t sniff them out. Besides, not many titans naturally wandered off into a forest, preferring the open planes, and the patrol could take care of a few stray titans, the trees also providing them with perfect environment for the use of the vertical maneuvering equipment.

They regrouped the formation and entered the forest, finally entering the camp after a full night of riding nonstop. They led the exhausted horses to a nearby stream, where they wearily got down and began to greedily drink.

Soldiers sat in groups with silence roaming over them, some of them trying to catch some sleep, some of them starring into space with dull eyes, still processing the fact that all of them are actually alive.

Levi left a while ago, muttering something about getting orders from Erwin. Armin also wandered off in different direction and was now returning with solemn expression.

"I spoke with some of the soldiers," Armin begun as he sat down next to Eren and others. "There was only one casualty during the whole ride here. There never was such a low death rate on an expedition before. Looks like Erwin´s plan to ride during the night was a success."

"That´s good news then, no? Why you look so serious?" asked Eren.

"The one who died was Samuel. He was in the group that encountered the Abnormal titan on our way here."

"Samuel Jackson? From the 104th?"

"Yeah," Armin nodded with downcast eyes. None of them knew Samuel very well, but they had been in the same trainee squad after all.

Eren grimly chuckled, but there was no humour in the sound. His fingers absent-mindedly clutched at strands of grass, tearing them out one by one. "Yeah I remember him. He was at the Wall at canon cleaning duty with Connie, Sasha, Thomas, Mina and I the day when the Colossus titan attacked for the second time. He was knocked off the wall and Sasha saved him by piercing his leg with a grappling hook. I didn´t know he healed the leg."

The group fell into silence again.

Erwin approached the resting soldiers with Hange and Levi in tow. "We need to set up the perimeter to encounter any possible approaching titans before they would reach the camp. Divide the patrols between yourselves. Another group will take care of the horses. Others may rest for the meantime until they will relieve from duty those on patrol duty. After we have recovered a bit, we will proceed to the main objective of this expedition, which would be establishing supply routes. That´s all for now. Dismissed."

Levi walked up to his squad. "I´ll be taking the first watch. You should either rest, or can take up the patrol duty too, if you feel up for it," with that, he started to walk away again, towards the part of the camp he´ll be guarding. He didn´t feel tired at all, even after whole night spent awake, after all, it wasn´t all that unusual for him.

Levi shot a grappling hook towards the branches and rose up into the treetops. He set himself comfortably on the branch, a blade in his hand, his eyes scanning the ground under him for signs of any wandering titans.

He was joined by Reiner after a while. He acknowledged the other soldier´s presence with a nod and his eyes drifted back down. They were far enough from the base camp, but they still couldn´t see the edges of the forest. There weren´t any other patrolling groups in their field of vision, but Levi knew they were positioned in a way that they could guard the entire perimeter of the camp while using as little manpower as possible.

It was about 20 minutes since they placed themselves that Levi spotted a titan wandering through the forest. It wasn´t big, maximum 4 meter class, and it was just randomly walking between trees with a rather stupid expression on its face.

"I´ll take care of it," Levi whispered to Reiner. He turned away to face the titan, changed the grip on his blades so that they would point down in his signature titan-slaying technique and prepared to shoot the grappling hooks into the tree trunks above the titan´s head.

Searing pain shot through his midriff. It was so unexpected, so out of the blue, that he couldn´t stop a pained gasp from escaping him. He stared at the sword protruding from his chest in confusion, shaking from the pain.

The swords were promptly kicked out of his hands. He tried to look behind him, his head being able to shift only slightly. Back were staring Reiner´s cold eyes, devoid of any compassion.

"Sorry heichou," Reiner finally drawled out. He tore out the sword and Levi collapsed to his knees. "You are too dangerous to let you live. You are a nuisance to our plans."

Levi almost missed the words being said. Paralyzing pain was coursing through Levi´s frame, shooting to all of his torso. He realized he wasn´t feeling anything in the lower parts of his body. ´ _Bastard impaled my spine_ ,´ he thought with a grimace.

Even if against all the odds he survived this, he wouldn´t ever walk again.

He tried to lever himself on his hands, which only made new waves of agony wash over him and he almost fell back down, white spots dancing in his blurred eyesight and dark edges were threatening to take over his vision. Blood pooled under him and was dripping down on the grass below.

He saw movement in the corner of his waning vision. With great effort, he pushed his head up, straining with the effort, panting heavily. On a nearby branch stood Bertholdt with tense expression on his face. He had Eren´s limp body hoisted over his shoulder.

Realization dawned on Levi just as his consciousness begun to slip away. He reached for his pocket, his fingers fumbling in search for his pistol. He slowly pulled it out, careful not to draw much attention to himself. He almost lost his grip a few times, the pistol shaking heavily. He pointed in the general direction of the sky and pulled the trigger. A flare shot up the sky and his hand finally let go of the pistol.

"Shit, you bastard!" Reiner shouted, kicking Levi heavily in the ribs. He coughed out blood, straining for breath, but he was already in the air and gravity was taking hold off him. He begun falling from the tree.

 _´I´m leaving the rest to you guys´_ was his last conscious thought.

Then the ground rushed to meet him.

AN: Finelly we´re getting somewhere, as promised. Let me know what you think so far.


	4. Chapter 4

Mikasa arrived at the scene, absolutely furious. She had seen Berthold attack Eren from behind and knock him out. At first she was absolutely mad, but also confused at the same time, so she reigned her anger in and decided to silently follow him, tranquil fury searing under the surface of calm focus.

She finally saw Bertholdt stop at a branch, Eren flung over his shoulder next to Reiner. _So these two are in this together._

She landed far enough to avoid being seen, hiding behind a trunk, observing the situation. The two seemed to be talking with one another about something, Berthold appeared distressed. She saw patches of blood staining the bark of the branch they were standing on.

Her eyes trailed to the ground and her breath hitched with her eyes widening in shock. Below the tree was a body, sprawled with it´s face down with blood pooling under it. She recognized the small frame and black undercut. Mikasa gripped her swords hard and her narrowed eyes focusing back on the assailants.

Speed was essential now. She shot the grappling hook into the trunk above their heads and jumped, the spinning reel pulling her in as she expended more gas than necessary to close in on her enemies as fast as possible.

Reiner noticed her approaching before she could slam her blades into Bertholdt and parried her with his own blades covered in Levi´s blood.

"GIVE EREN BACK!" Mikasa screamed, retracting one of her blades and slashing at Reiner again. But instead of blocking the slash, Reiner let it connect with his thigh, slicing off a piece of flesh. Mikasa only realized her mistake when a triumphant smirk flashed across his face. _Reiner used the pain to trigger the transformation._

The huge form of the Armored Titan erupted out of thin air. Tendons and muscle tissue enveloped the skeleton and all of that was covered by nigh impenetrable armor. Mikasa put her arms out to protect her face but that did her little good in protecting herself from the incoming foot slamming into her.

The breath was knocked out of her upon the impact and she felt her back crushing into a tree. She felt a few ribs crack. She fell on her knees on the ground, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. She placed her hands on the ground, prepared to push her body off the ground and attack again.

What she saw made her breath hitch. Bertholdt was climbing into the Armored Titan´s palms with Eren strapped to him. Bertholdt looked at her one last time and said something to Reiner that she couldn´t discern. Next thing she knew, an ear splitting roar shook the air and sent trembles through the ground.

She recognized the sound. It was the same as when the Female Titan was surrounded by the Survey Corps on their last expedition. Soon enough this place would be swarmed by titans. She needed to act quickly.

She quickly tried to stand up but her left leg gave out under her. Steadying herself, she shot the grappling hooks out and .pulled herself up. Carefully aiming at the retreating back of the Armored Titan, she fired again, the hooks attaching themselves to the unprotected tissue, pulling herself in.

The Armored Titan suddenly stopped its retreat and turned to face Mikasa, yanking the hooks out of his flesh by the wire.

 _Shit_ , Mikasa thought. If the titan used the wires to slam her into a tree or to the ground, that would be the end for her, no matter how resilient she was. With a final outcry of anguish, she slashed for the wires, severing herself from Reiner´s hold.

By that, she also cut herself from the only chance she had at rescuing Eren now, because the Armored Titan took off running at a pace she had no hopes of achieving without her three dimensional maneuvering gear and with an injured leg.

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Erwin was feeling unsettled. He had seen the signal flare go off in the general direction where he knew Levi had gone to guard the perimeter. The fact that there weren´t any obvious signs of combat that would explain the warning signal was even more disturbing. If it really had been Levi who sent the flare, Erwin knew there weren´t many things that would cause Levi to do that.

He was on his way to check out the situation when a deafening roar echoed through the air. There was no mistake that this sound came out from a titan´s throat.

"Soldiers! Prepare to intercept any titans!" Erwin´s voice was rousing the soldiers from their slumber and soon there were soldiers standing in front of him, waiting for orders.

"You are coming with me," Erwin pointed to a group of soldiers, "we will investigate what happened. You," he pointed to another group of soldiers, "will act as our guard and will be the vanguard for the possible oncoming attack. The rest of you will be stationed at the borders of the camp and will fight off any titans that manage to get through. Dismissed!"

Loud _´yes, sir!´_ sounded throughout the clearing as everyone rushed to defend the camp. All exhaustion was forgotten and replaced by adrenaline and anticipation.

Erwin and his appointed group ran to where the sound originated from. Horses would be of no use here, in the forest. The scene soon unfolded in front of them.

Titans of various sizes were already invading the forest, attracted by the roar. He couldn´t see the titan that let out the roar. Then he spotted the body on the ground.

Erwin silently cursed as he landed a bit too roughly next to the prone form, his eyes scanning for injuries. There was a crimson stain in the middle off the back and the limbs were mangled in a very unnatural way. Erwin was no field medic but anyone would see that these weren´t injuries one could walk away with.

The ground rumbled with heavy feet nearing them, but a soldier flew past the titan, slicing at it´s neck. The giant body fell to the ground few meters from them.

Erwin continued to stare in shock. It wasn´t the first time he saw Levi injured, but never this much. Levi was so strong that it was almost unimaginable. Erwin grimly chucked, but the sound was devoid of any humour. _So death gets even the best of us._

Someone landed behind him. "Erwin, what´s going o- oh," Hange is stood behind him, also rigid with disbelief. "Not even the Humanity´s Strongest Soldier can survive a backstabbing bastard," she fell numbly to her knees to pay her last respects for her fallen comrade.

Then Levi took one shuddering, pained breath. Even in such a state, robbed of his senses, he continued to fight for his life, his heart erratically continuing to distribute blood around his body, his crushed lungs still struggling to inhale oxygen.

"Not yet," Erwin mentally berated himself for falling victim to grief where there was no place for emotion on battlefield. He wasted no time thinking or feeling relief. He would feel again when this was over. He reached for the pouch where he kept the syringe with the titan serum.

The impersonal part of his brain has already finished with the calculations. As heartless as it sounded, this was the perfect opportunity. Levi was a seasoned and devoted soldier, not to mention the best humanity could offer. He saw what someone without proper training like Eren could do with such a power, and if this power was bestowed upon someone like Levi, the outcome would be a major game changer and could perhaps even be a turning point in this drawn out, one sided war.

He noticed Hange observing him. Judging by the determined gleam in her eyes, she must´ve come to the same decision. Erwin plunged the syringe into Levi´s flesh and pressed. Clear liquid begun to fill Levi´s veins.

For a few infinite seconds, nothing was happening.

Then, Levi´s flesh begun bubbling and regenerating, the wounds closing in matter of seconds, the broken and twisted limbs repairing themselves with awful squelching sounds, steam rising from the whole body. Soon, bones begun to appear out of thin air, forming a titan skeleton which was soon enveloped by tissue and finally skin. Eyeballs, face features and hair appeared last.

The new titan stood in all it´s glory. It wasn´t as high as Eren´s titan and stood at about 10 meters, but it looked more sturdy. Well developed muscles covered its whole body. It had short, wild, black hair and a big mouth with pointed teeth.

Then its head turned sharply to stare at Erwin. Erwin´s breath hitched when he saw no spark of recognition in the grey orbs, only unbridled fury of a caged animal. Erwin held his breath as the titan in front of him examined him, making sure he didn´t move a muscle. Showing no sign of interest, the titan turned away.

Erwin allowed himself to breath out. Even the few times a titan had him in his grasp, before his comrades saved him, never he had experienced such a rage in titan´s eyes.

Suddenly, the titan let out a huge role, until the ground trembled and begun sprinting, moving incredibly fast at powerful strides. It payed no heed to the other titans around him, kicking into the three and four meter classes that were unfortunate enough to get under his feet.

A single 12 meter class stood in the way. The titan that was Levi didn´t even flinch as he bent forward and crashed into the taller titan, sending him flying with a stupidly surprised expression. Paying no heed, the Levi-titan stepped on it´s neck, crushing its nape and continued to run to point on the horizon that no-one else but him saw.

All the titans that invaded the area after the Armored titan lured them were dealt with, albeit with some casualties.

"Sir," a soldier came to report, saluting, "we received a report from Mikasa Ackerman, saying that Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover are enemy spies and abducted our titan shifter, Eren Jaeger. Braun was observed shifting into a titan, the one that broke Wall Maria."

 _Shit,_ Erwin thought. That wasn´t good. Only now it occurred to him that he haven´t seen the boisterous teen throughout the battle. If it really happened, it not only meant that they lost their titan shifter for now, but also that the other new titan shifter they just got ran off to who knows where. He had to plan and he had to plan fast.

His brow puckered in deep thought. The two titan shifters were the highest priority right now, but the sun was up, which meant there would be titans wandering around, also, if they somehow managed to reach their targets, it would mean fighting the Armored Titan and his companion, which was something which could cause great losses for the Legion. The circumstances were against their favor.

Erwin finally reached his decision. "Get me together a squad of experienced soldiers and a matching number of spare horses we led here. We will lead a retrieval mission for Eren Jeager and Levi. Someone get me more details from Ackerman. We depart as soon as possible, time is of essence."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier saluted once more and went to carry out his orders.

Erwin sighed and begun to prepare plans for various scenarios for the upcoming mission. There was another long day ahead of them.

 _I will be leading more men to their deaths today._

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 **Fun fact: Marco´s birthday is 16th of June. Which is funny, because it´s exactly HALF of the year. Hehe. Get it? Someone please slap me.**

 **Anyway, life caught up with me, I do homework, prepare for tests, play piano, learn japanese, do two different sports and do an AP course, so I have a real lot going on. Updates may not be very regular.**

 **Shit finally hit the fan and after two descriptive chapters, we´re finally getting some action, please let me know what you think, reading reviews encourages me to write faster and update more often. I´m also getting a bit stuck with the plot, so I may need more time to plan it out.**


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